9 Tips That Will Help Keep Your Kitchen Germ-Free

To help you keep up with the clean, we enlisted the support of Laurie Brown, a green cleaning expert and chief sales officer of Earthstone International, a purveyor of household cleaning and sanding productrs, to give you some great and useful tips. Learn how to dispel germs by following this advice.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Change Your Cutting Board

“Use hard plastic cutting sheets instead of wood cutting boards to more easily remove germs after each use. Just wash with dish soap and rinse with water. Super easy and effective.”

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Clean Your Sink

“Keep sinks clean! Use Magic Eraser or microfiber products to clean around the sink drain and garbage disposal as a way to more effectively remove food scum and germ-laden residue. Ninety-nine point nine percent of bacteria can be removed by agitation, and super absorbent fibers and materials do a superior job — without the chemicals.”

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Don’t Do Unnecessary ‘Cleaning’

“Do not rinse chicken or other meat before cooking. It just spreads germs, and it doesn't make it more delicious.”

“Place old vegetables in compost pail designed with a lid and set outside to store between uses. Better to compost than throw rotting fruits and vegetables in the garbage or disposal, where they create indoor compost in your kitchen. And it’s good food for your garden, too.”

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Line Your Drawers

“Keep parchment paper at bottom of produce drawers, making occasional clean-up quick and easy and avoiding lettuce and carrots that are so ‘alive with bacteria’ they are ready to march out of the fridge.”

Image Credit: iStock/Thinkstock

Swap Out Your Scrubbies

“Toss scrubbers that are clogged with food residue and grease. Steel wool and nylon scrubbies are a major source of bacteria, which can clog the scrubber's surface, making it difficult, if not impossible, to really get clean.”

Image Credit: iStock/Thinkstock

Use Your Dishwasher for More Than Dishes

“Put drain and garbage disposal covers in the dishwasher occasionally to clean and remove germs.”

Image Credit: iStock/Thinkstock

Wash Your Washcloths

“Wash dish rags and sponges at least once or twice weekly. A little bleach in your dishrags will keep them looking good AND help disinfect, and you can wash your sponges in the dishwasher or place in the microwave (wet) for two minutes on high. Make sure there is no metal in the product.”

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Up Next

See Gallery

Discover More Like This

HIDE CAPTION

SHOW CAPTION

of

SEE ALL

BACK TO SLIDE

While it certainly doesn't feel like it in some parts of the country, spring is officially here, and it's time to start anew. Everyone is looking forward to hosting spring soirees and finally going outside for picnics, but one of the first steps to enjoying the season is getting your home in order.

As you begin spring cleaning, you're confident that this will be the beginning of the tidiest era in your life. Your pantry is organized. Your cabinets are scrubbed down. Heck, you're even composting! You're doing an awesome job. Aren't you?

We don't mean to be a total killjoy, but in order to keep your kitchen sanitary, it's going to take more than one big cleaning. Your kitchen needs consistent maintenance, and often in places that you'd least expect. For instance, did you know that washing your meat or poultry off is not only totally unnecessary, it also spreads bacteria? Or that cleaning the coils behind the fridge is important for keeping food fresh and bacteria-free.

To help you keep up with the clean, we enlisted the support of Laurie Brown, a green cleaning expert and chief sales officer of Earthstone International, a purveyor of household cleaning and sanding productrs, to give you some great and useful tips. Learn how to dispel germs by following this advice.

Check out the slideshow above for 9 tips to keep your kitchen germ-free.